AN amateur photographer who tried to lure girls as young as 14 into posing for glamour pictures has been jailed for 21 months at Worcester Crown Court.

John Humphreys trawled the streets in his distinctive red Vauxhall Frontera seeking likely candidates and promising them lucrative magazine work, said Simon Phillips, prosecuting.

But his job was in a warehouse and he also made the mistake of trying to recruit his boss's 14-year-old daughter.

Humphreys, aged 50, of Ploughman's Walk, Droitwich, who pleaded guilty to attempting to incite a child into prostitution or pornography, was disqualified for life from working with children.

Judge Andrew Geddes, who also imposed a three-year anti-social behaviour order, described Humphreys as "a social pest" from whom society should be protected.

The judge said that he had no doubt that Humphreys intended to take indecent photographs not only for money but for his own sexual gratification. He had played upon the weakness of vulnerable girls by offering the prospect of money and glamour.

Photographs would be sold to magazines and the internet and cause untold distress and humiliation to the girls and their families.

The court heard that Humphreys had breached an order made in 2002 to stop him harassing a 26-year-old woman he had photographed in the nude.

They had an affair and he pestered her when she broke it off.

Mr Phillips said Humphreys was arrested after he had approached a 14-year-old in Foregate Street, Worcester, on a Saturday afternoon. He gave her his mobile telephone number and gave a false name when she called.

Her mother became suspicious when she intercepted a call mentioning underwear, topless and nude glamour work. Humphreys told police he thought the girl was 16 but Mr Phillips said it was still an offence to target girls under 18.

Miss Elizabeth Muir, defending, said Humphreys had been attacked and put in hospital since the offence came to light. One man had been arrested.

Humphreys had been in custody for ten weeks and his wife had been working 14 hours a day in a factory to pay the mortgage.

She was upset about his behaviour and he was unsure whether he could save the marriage.